CAVAN goalkeeper Raymond Galligan stood between the posts, gable-like, tall as a house.
Moments later, he would prove to be just as indestructible. With 13 minutes left on the clock, Armagh penalty-taker Stefan Campbell set his sights on hauling back his side to within three points of their hosts.
For the first time in the game, he could see the whites of Galligan’s eyes.
As Campbell placed the ball, Galligan began to shoot the breeze with his immediate adversary.
What did you say to him?
“I asked him did he bring his gloves with him,” said Galligan.
Anything else?
“Nah, just that he hadn’t a hope of beating me.”
Galligan revealed that his work – and that of the other two ’keepers in the Cavan panel – with Dundalk FC goalkeeper Gary Rogers “on our shot stopping and kicking has been brilliant”.
And did he psyche Campbell out?
“I don’t think so. He’s too clever a player to fall for that sort of stuff. I’ve never faced him before from the penalty spot but generally I tend to watch the players’ feet as long as possible see how his body is opening up, get up as close to the taker as possible and then take my chances.
“There’s an element of luck too. In fairness to Stefan, he was always a threat and all credit to the lads in front of me for keeping him reasonably quiet.”
Galligan’s save cemented his side’s 2-12 to 0-12 advantage.
Seconds after he cleared the ball up the field, teammate Seanie Johnston clipped over a left-footed point to make it a quickfire double-whammy for the Orchard county.
Galligan admitted the day could scarcely have gone any better for him.
Keeping a clean sheet is a ’keeper’s bread and butter but Galligan wanted jam on it too so he weighed in with a clean-as-a-whistle 45 in the first half.
Galligan’s conversion last season from a go-to full-forward at club and county level to Cavan’s nailed-down number one is already part of the county’s GAA annals.
He much prefers to deflect the bouquets of flowers directed his way.
Armagh’s defeat, he insists, was down to “a great team performance where everyone did the job they were asked to do. There were no passengers. We knew what we had to do and fortunately things went to plan”.
Just the tonic for the troops after the disappointment of losing out to Tyrone in last month’s NFL final?
“Absolutely. It’s a great confidence booster, not that our confidence was low anyway,” he said. “It’s just massive to get over this hurdle and now we can concentrate on getting another crack at Tyrone.
“Even though people were saying there was no way Armagh would turn us over after the way we beat them well in the League we didn’t pay any heed to that talk. And we know that we’re in for more hard work the next day against Tyrone.”
All calm so far pic.twitter.com/zRQ279DFac
— Irish News Sport (@irishnewssport) May 29, 2016
